South Korea Blocks Websites of 27 Unregistered Overseas Exchanges Including KuCoin, MEXC, BingX

South Korea will block domestic access to the websites of 27 unregistered overseas crypto exchanges, including KuCoin, MEXC, Phemex, XT.com, Bitrue, CoinW, Poloniex, BTCC, BingX and BitMart, the Financial Intelligence Unit announced on Tuesday, according to eToday. The decision was made by the country's media and communications review commission at the FIU's request, following reviews on October 6 and 7.

Sites hosted on domestic servers will have their service terminated, while those on overseas servers will be blocked for users in Korea. The FIU said it will monitor operators that switch to new domains to get around the restrictions and will request further blocks where needed. It has also referred 44 unregistered virtual asset service providers to investigators.

The website blocks extend measures that began in app stores. In March 2025, at the FIU's request, Google Play restricted new installs and updates for 17 overseas exchange apps, including KuCoin, MEXC, Phemex and BitMart, and Apple later applied similar limits. Users who already had the apps or accessed the platforms through a browser were able to keep trading. Authorities can now order a block once unregistered operation is confirmed, without waiting for evidence of specific user harm or the outcome of an investigation, eToday reported.

Under Korea's Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information, any virtual asset business that serves Korean users must obtain information security certification and register with the FIU. The rule applies to overseas operators that run Korean-language sites, market to Korean users or accept won payments. Operating without registration carries up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 50 million won. Only 28 operators are currently registered, and registered exchanges are barred from sending crypto to unregistered platforms.

The FIU is framing the action partly as a consumer cost issue. An industry survey in June found unregistered operators charged average fees of 1.5% to 10%, compared with 0.16% at the five largest won-based exchanges. Much of the offshore platforms' appeal to Korean users lies in products the domestic exchanges cannot offer, such as leveraged derivatives and early token listings.

Existing users who have trouble withdrawing funds will be given guidance through DAXA, the self-regulatory body of Korea's licensed exchanges. The FIU urged users of unregistered platforms to withdraw their assets immediately. Whether the blocks hold will depend on how quickly authorities can keep up with mirror domains and on how many users turn to VPNs, which the measures do not address.